TS35-3 




iC3 



PS 3503 
.R721 
C3 
1915 
Copy 1 




flan'<6,U 



CALIFORNIA 

A Poem ' 5j; FRED 
EMERSON BROOKS 



ii 



PAUL ELDER £5f COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS • SAN FRANCISCO 




Hard by the blue Pacific 

An Empire stands alone, 
Walled in by serrate mountains, 

While Plenty sits the throne; 
Where the climate is an Eden, 

Where the Winter is a Spring, 
Where the Summer is eternal 

And the birds forever sing. 



Copyright^ igi3 

Paul Elder ^ Company 

San Francisco 






0. >a/' 
JUL 2 1915 

(0)CI.A407575 




One may take a two days' journey 

In a Pullman palace train, 
Through the miles of orange blossoms 

And the leagues of waving grain; 
There's enough to feed a Nation 

In yon single field of wheat, 
If they'd only come and glean it 

Who are starving in the street. 

Precious metals in the mountains; 
E'en the sands are full of gold. 

Which came down in yellow 
showers, 
As the manna fell of old. 

See the vineyards without number- 
Countless tons of purple gems; 

'Tis a royal country, stranger. 
Where the fields wear diadems. 

[3] 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/californiapoemOObroo 




If the rain should ever fail us 

We could irrigate with wine- 
Turn the beverage of Cana 

Back again into the vine; 
While the miracles of Burbank 

Bid old wizard Nature bear 
Fruits and flowers never dreamed of 

In her bounteous bill of fare. 



Hoary Shasta, Sovereign Mountain, 
With thy jeweled crown of snow 

And thy feet in beds of flowers! 
There with silken robes aglow. 

Smiles the Maiden California, 

Formed of such enchanting mold 

Sunshine Elfins kiss her sandals- 
Silver sandals laced with gold. 

[5] 




Surely this must be the Eden 

Where the woman tempted man. 
With the women still so tempting 

They'd upset most any plan; 
Little wonder they both yielded 

Where the fruitage is so fair; 
It would tempt far holier mortals. 

It would lure more cautious pair. 

Those who locate ancient Eden 

By the Dead Sea are not wrong. 
Since our California glory 

To that Garden must belong— 
There's a dead sea over yonder 

Where Mono's brackish tide 
Makes a liquid tomb for nature. 

And where nothing can abide. 

[7] 




There's an ancient Druid temple 

In that forest petrified; 
There the wife of Lot glanced 
backward, 

Turned to crystal as she died; 
There stood Sodom, there Gomorrah, 

Where the Geyser's boiling pot 
Seethes amid the ancient ruins. 

And the embers still are hot. 



Who can catalogue the wonders? 

Who can say what there is not. 
In this land of milk and honey. 

Nature's only polyglot—? 
Stranger, mention something lacking 

Here among the things that be. 
And we'll take you out to view it 

In this garden by the sea. 

[9] 




Is there any kind of climate. 

Any scene for painter's eye 
The Almighty hath not crowded 

'Neath our California sky? 
Is there any fruit or flower, 

Any gem or jewel old, 
Any wonder of creation 

That this garden doth not hold- 

From the tiny midget blossom 

To the grand Sequoia high. 
With its roots in God's own country 

And its top in God's own sky? 
And when you're done life's sojourn 

You may take the Golden Gate, 
Or mount up this Jacob's ladder 

From the glorious Golden State. 

[■■] 




From the vision of the ashes 

Western men of heart and brains 
Have rebuilt a marvel city 

Where the queen of beauty reigns: 
Her breath is like the perfume 

And her cheek is like the rose, 
And her hair is like the sunshine 

Where the golden poppy grows. 

Here the moon flings dovi^n her silver, 

Here the sun flings down his gold; 
With the gems still in the water 

Where the stars fell down of old. 
When the sun sinks in the ocean 

Like a monster burnished plate, 
You behold the God of Glory 

Closing up the Golden Gate. 

[13] 




Here, within the world's Elysium, 

Earth's great harbor we behold. 
Where the silver waters tide them 

Through the gates of burnished 
gold: 
Here, in Alabaster temples. 

All the arts of man appear. 
For both continents and oceans 

Hold their Exposition here. 

California makes fiesta 

And invites the world to sup 
While the kiss of her abundance 

Drops a pearl in every cup; 
Man has cut the earth asunder. 

Made a highway for the sea 
That the ships of man come 

sooner 
To this land of Arcadie. 

[■5] 



LJBRfiRY OF CONGRESS 

018 602 290 7 




